Witness Recalls LAX Shooting Chaos

Carol Stubbs was on her way to a wedding when a gunman fired a rifle inside a terminal at LAX. Toni Guinyard reports for the NBC4 News at Noon on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. (Published Friday, Nov. 1, 2013)

“We could see all the police cars,” said Stubb, whose flight was scheduled to leave Friday for Hawaii from Terminal 2. “We could see the helicopter going above. We were just watching the view. We thought we were perfectly safe. Everybody was very calm.

“Then they had us evacuate to the other side of the terminal.”

Shooting at LAX

She was one of many passengers who recounted the chaotic moments after a gunman opened fire at a TSA document checkpoint, killing an employee, and wounding at least three others on Friday at Terminal 3 at LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal.

Passengers were evacuated and flights were halted as frantic travelers rushed to escape and followed the news on cellphones and tablets.

Stubb was with a wedding party waiting for her flight when police ordered them to evacuate. In the hours after the threat ended, she said she was confused about what to do next.

“They have told us absolutely nothing,” she said. “We’re just following where they tell us to go.

“The wedding is not till Sunday,” she laughed. “I’m sure we’ll be there on time.”

Lines of people were loaded onto buses and shuttled away from the airport as others walked back to cars blocks from the airport. Passengers were stranded for hours inside the airport terminal, waiting for delayed flights.

Bill Tsumpes’ girlfriend sat for hours on a plane, grounded after a 16-hour flight from Shanghai.

“They didn’t give her any detail,” he said. “Everybody’s more than anxious to get off the flight.”